Awakening and Retribution

The young lady’s pupils constricted violently; my words had clearly struck a raw nerve, wounding her pride. The very person who had vowed to make Maple despair now wore an expression of utter disbelief.

I chuckled, emboldened by my confidence. “Flee now while you still can! Otherwise, Maple will cut you all down, even with his eyes closed!”

“Fire!” she shrieked, her teeth gritted.

Uh-oh…

My smile vanished instantly.

“But, young lady…”

“Silence! Shoot him dead!”

“I dare any of you!” I cried, spreading my arms to shield Maple. “Aren’t you trying to exchange me for your Queen? If you shoot him, you’ll be shooting me too!”

“Are you out of your mind? Get down, now!” Maple exclaimed, growing frantic. He pulled me behind him with a swift motion.

“Stop arguing! I’ll grant your wish! You can all die together! Fire!”

“Stop—!”

No sooner had the words left my mouth than a surge of heat coursed through my body. A powerful gust of wind erupted from me, its epicenter, sending everyone stumbling and scattering.

All eyes were fixed on me, wide with astonishment. The arrows shot in our direction had all snapped, littering the ground.

“It’s magic… she can use magic!”

Their faces contorted in terror. “Run! Or we’ll be torn to shreds!”

Half of them scrambled away, tripping and crawling, while the other half remained frozen in place, utterly terrified. Honestly, I didn’t quite understand why they were so afraid of me.

The young lady clutched her severed arm, staring at me in disbelief. “You truly are the Emperor’s biological child!”

Just then, a Cat-eared Girl, dressed as a ninja, emerged from the shadow of a masked figure. With a single strike, she slit his throat.

“This concubine is late to your aid, Your Highness Princess. I beg your forgiveness.”

Under the moonlight, a white-and-red patterned yokai cat mask hung from her temple, and despite her petite frame, she exuded a chilling, murderous aura.

Someone recognized her instantly, gasping. “It’s that damned Emperor’s shadow warrior! That means the Emperor is nearby!”

“You’re dead.” The Cat-eared Girl flung a kunai, striking him directly between the eyebrows.

Indeed, as I looked out, I saw a magnificent line of torches stretching like a dragon. My Imperial Father had truly arrived with his army.

It’s good to be saved…

I swayed unsteadily, a stream of blood gushing from my nose.

I had been growing increasingly disoriented for a while now, and finally, I couldn’t hold on any longer. With a thud, I collapsed onto the grass.

‘Fubai…?’

Through a haze, I heard Maple’s voice…?

‘Sorry, let me just sleep for a bit… Zzzz’

The Imperial Emperor, clad in black, made his grand entrance. Behind his imperial carriage stretched the vast Imperial Guard.

The Cat-eared Girl rose from the shadows and knelt on one knee outside the carriage.

“Reporting, Your Majesty. The corpses of the bandits have been neatly arranged by your servant. However… some of those who fled kept muttering about ‘the Princess can use magic.'”

“How is Fubai?”

“Her Highness Princess… she passed out, bleeding from all seven orifices. Prince Maple’s eyes appear to have been poisoned.”

The Emperor recalled that his own first awakening of magic had also caused bleeding from all seven orifices. He couldn’t help but sigh, “This is fate.”

The child who should have been furthest from the whirlpool of power had, unexpectedly, become the only one to inherit his strength.

He asked coldly, “How many witnessed Fubai awaken her magic?”

“That depends on how many escaped.”

“Within a hundred-mile radius, regardless of age or gender—women, children, old men—and even pigs, dogs, cattle, and sheep, all are to be slain and incinerated. Let the hundred-mile radius become scorched earth, barren for ten thousand years.”

He did not issue this command to the Cat-eared Girl, nor to the Imperial Guard, but to all creation.

Suddenly, the flames on the torches held by the Imperial Guard transformed into countless fiery serpents, ascending into the sky.

All the flames intertwined, converging into a single, scorching fire orb, hot as the sun.

The fire orb formed a grin like a jack-o’-lantern, letting out a sinister cackle as it flew towards the direction the rabbit-eared tribe had fled, then plummeted from the heavens like a meteor.